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Jean-Louis Gassée Column

Connected Appliances: A Field Report September 6, 2000 The term "connected appliances" covers too much ground to have any precise meaning. And shortly it will be a pleonastic repetition, as all appliances become IP-enabled. Meanwhile, curious to see the current state of connected appliance art, I bought a Casio PocketPC and a Blackberry pager, and activated the WAP features on my GTE cell phone. First, the PocketPC. Full disclosure: since Palm's spin-off from 3Com, I no longer hold a vested interest in Palm. With that out of the way I can say that the PocketPC (E115 from Casio) initially looks good; it has a nice color screen and decent battery life (a few hours of continuous use). However, it's way too complicated to set up and synchronize -- too much like a PC shoehorned into a PDA. Part of the problem lies in the name, PocketPC. In theory, you can play a music file on it while reading and answering mail. In practice, the music hiccups when the CPU is too busy and the OS too tasked to give good service to the music application. The OS (good old CE re-baptized) is not as stable as expected -- I had to reset the machine several times. I'll spare readers the convoluted story of transferring data from my Palm VII to the PocketPC, but I have this advice: ignore Microsoft's PocketPC Web site and buy IntelliSync -- it works. Unfortunately, you have no choice about using Outlook (no relationship to Outlook Express), another MS roach motel, the nimble mail client "integrated" with Explorer. Also, the PocketPC has no wireless connection, it's more expensive and more difficult to use than a Palm VII, and has less ISV support. My advice is to wait and see what the next generation will do. WAP phones have been much touted and, lately, somewhat maligned. Perhaps it's a question of expectations. For me, the set-up was reasonably easy and the phone does what I expect -- handles a limited amount of e-mail and Web browsing. It's simple, small, and, in my experience, fairly reliable. Getting stock quotes, sending and receiving POP3 e-mail, or searching for books on Amazon.com might seem too geeky for some. I have no dispute with that perspective -- WAP phones are about as advanced as DOS or the Apple ][. They're functional but too primitive for many. Others may want to look at today's products and services and extrapolate. I find today's WAP convenient and very promising. I take my hat off to Alain Rossman for ignoring the sages who told him Unwired Planet (the name of the company before it became phone.com) had no future -- a browser in a phone, you *must* be kidding. Yes, there's a Ken Olsen born every minute. Still on connections, I got a Ricochet modem for my notebook. It's a very nice, always on wireless connection. It's still slow where I live, but already available at 128Kbps in Seattle and San Diego. I can't wait for the fast service and the PC card version. At twice the speed of ISDN on a small notebook it will open the door to on-demand multimedia on the go. Last but not least, the Blackberry. This comes in the Exchange version for users of MS Exchange server and the Internet edition for users of ordinary e-mail. See Blackberry.net for details, prices, and distributors. I bought mine from OneMain, and it was a very pleasant experience. I just set up a duplicate of my e-mail stream to a onemain.com address and was in business without wires immediately. The PC desktop software synchs to Outlook for your address book and calendar. The screen is a little smaller than the Palm's but the battery lasted me more than 10 days. The keyboard is small, but friends say it encourages me to be concise. Most functions are accessible with one hand via a scroll-and--click wheel and a small escape button. The Blackberry is small, thin, and light -- the best wireless PDA I've seen so far. However, it has no Web browser and no wireless synchronization with my assistant's desktop yet. If and when these functions are available and work well, Blackberry could give Palm, Handspring, and Sony (their Clié Pam clone is coming this month -- what's with these cute acute accents?) a run for their money. Blackberry surprised me, because I'd had a bad experience with an earlier generation of two-way paging, but this one works nicely. Perhaps I should do Transcendental Meditation waiting in line for United Airlines, but one-handed wireless e-mail, bourgeois as it is, is a good way to relieve frustrations.

Past Columns: March 7, 2001 Intemperance Makes the Suit Look Bad February 7, 2001 The Web Device of Choice at Home January 17, 2001 Transfer of Power December 6, 2000 One Step Closer November 15, 2000 Thoughts on Comdex 2000 November 1, 2000 Watching the Pendulum October 4, 2000 Plus çà change... September 6, 2000 Connected Appliances: A Field Report August 16, 2000 Sub-PC vs. Appliances July 12, 2000 The Victim Microsoft June 7, 2000 The Power of Words May 31, 2000 The First Be Shareholders Meeting May 24, 2000 Intellectual Property and Internet Appliances May 17, 2000 Spreading the Virus May 10, 2000 Numbers and Feedback May 3, 2000 Manufacturing Consent

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